More than 39,000 gamers, animation fans, and cosplayers flocked to the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta for MomoCon 2019, the largest gaming convention in the Southeastern United States.
For its record number of attendees, MomoCon 2019 hosted industry stars like Suda51, who announced Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes for PS4 and Steam, Aksys Games, Inti Creates, and more. The 2019 Indie Game Awards Showcase also took place, recognizing NITE Team 4 (Alice and Smith), CrossCode (Radical Fish Games), Hexologic (MythicOwl), Eagle Island (Pixelnicks), and FrostRunner (Think Arcade) as the 5 finalists.
MomoCon 2019 was the most attended in the show’s history, with more than 39,000 gamers, animation fans, and cosplayers. The best cosplays I saw were the Mortal Kombat 11 group, from the Dark Lord Raiden to about all if the ninjas from Scorpion, Sub Zero, Reptail, and Ermac. There was a really good Obsidian from Steven Universe and The Batman Who Laughs from Dark Knight Metal.
MomoCon 2019’s guest list featured stars from the gaming and animation worlds. Goichi “Suda51” Suda of Grasshopper Manufacture announced PS4 and Steam releases of Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes at his Saturday panel. Suda51 also discussed Japanese games with TINY METAL director and Diablo III recording director Hiroaki Yura. Aksys Games, Inti Creates, Supergiant Games, and more also spoke on panels.
I had the chance to interview a lot of special guests this year and most were really fun. Kenny James the voice of Bowser, Samantha Kelly the voice of Princess Peach, Michaela Dietz the voice of Pearl from Steven Universe, Patrick Warburton who voices Joe Swanson from Family Guy and Brock Samson from Venture Bros. and even Tony Anselmo who voices Donald Duck. But the deepest and most raw interview came from Cutiepiesensie (Jasmine) and Thrill Builds (Tonya). They spoke a lot of truth and brought facts about the cosplay world and being black while doing so. I also got to interview Renee Cooper, the head of media relations for Momocon. An invaluable asset, she’s been with the con since they first started back at Georgia Tech.
The 5th annual Indie Game Awards Showcase, hosted by Jesse Cox, recognized the brilliant creations of 20 independent developers, including four Georgia-local teams. Judges Rami Ismail of Vlambeer, Mike Fahey of Kotaku, Chris Carter of Destructoid, Austin Wood of PC Gamer, and Janet Garcia of IGN selected the top five games: NITE Team 4 (Alice and Smith), CrossCode (Radical Fish Games), Hexologic (MythicOwl), Eagle Island (Pixelnicks), and FrostRunner (Think Arcade).
Developers of these five winners were awarded $1,000, a dedicated panel and exhibit space at MomoCon 2020, a glass trophy, and feature placement in the MomoCon newsletter.
“Our annual Indie Game Awards Showcase is a chance to celebrate great games by inspiring talent,” said Chris Stuckey, co-founder of MomoCon. “That and MomoCon’s guest appearances across games, animation, and pop culture delight and unite us in our love for these creations. We look forward to welcoming an even greater audience next year to celebrate with us.”
My favorite moment of the con was when I geeked out over Donny Yates, the creator of Cosmic Ghost Rider and explained the story of Cosmic Ghost Rider to a friend in three minutes. Donny totally shook and laughed about it.
We really enjoyed our time at Momocon this year. We met so many great people and our con family continues to expand. We’re happy that con season has officially kicked off and can’t wait for Momocon 2020!
-TBZ
Photo: X